Returning Memories
by Fineshrine
Summary: Ruby has a run-in with Mary Margaret that leads to the return of her fairy-tale land memories.


**Returning Memories**

_"And now I'm told that this is life,_

_that pain is just a simple compromise."_

This fight was worse than normal, it was the only one that Ruby ever felt the need run permanently away from. She didn't want to settle down and follow her Granny's path just yet, she still wanted to be as free as possible, free to run in the woods and go missing for a few days without wondering if people would miss her back home. Ruby knew that the moment she gave into her Granny's wishes she wouldn't be able to run away anymore, not even for a moment. She'd be forced to stay back in their little bed and breakfast with all remnants of excitement drowned out by the repetitiveness of a job she never wanted in the first place. There'd be no more living for Ruby, it would be a living coma and as much as she loved her Granny, she just wasn't ready. So she intended to run away again, only this time she didn't plan on ever going back.

The brunette was sitting on her bed, folding clothes and shoving them into her small suitcase as quickly as she could, ignoring the clamor of her angry Grandmother on the floor below her. It was closing time, luckily, so there wasn't a lot to do, but she knew that her Granny hated doing it alone. For a brief moment Ruby wondered if she should go help, but then she'd remembered the feel of the cool forest breeze on her cheeks and she forced herself to slam the trunk shut and lock it forcefully - as though it was what cause of her rage. Ruby huffed and stood from her position, propping the trunk up on the floor next to her before going to hunt up some earmuffs to wear out to the bus stop. It was time to go and find some lemurs, even if she had to go to Madagascar to get them.

It took her awhile to find her ear muffs and by the time she was really ready to go it was well after seven in the evening, and being winter it was also well after dark. The faded daylight didn't matter though, and Ruby clunked her way down the stairs with her trunk in tow, avoiding her Granny's gaze until she was almost out the front door. Once she managed her way out the front door with nothing more than a brief "Goodbye" to her obviously disapproving grandmother, she let out a deep sigh of relief. There was no more frustrated reproach, no more locking up after eight hour shifts or going to the store to stock up on cleaning supplies. Ruby finally felt free to do as she pleased, and it fogged her mind viciously.

The bus stop wasn't too far away, but it was far enough to make her cold and mentally exhausted, so when Whale showed up a few minutes after she was standing there Ruby was forced to fight the urge to give him a blunt, snappy remark that would shoo him off. Instead, the woman chatted to him briefly until he offered her a ride, which she declined politely. He began to repeat the statement rudely when Mary Margaret and Emma showed up, to which Ruby was extremely thankful for, whether she'd admit it or not.

"Was he bothering you?" Mary Margaret asked with concern showing on her creased brow. Ruby smiled a bit, making a witty remark in response that had the woman giving her a tiny nod in affirmation.

Ruby wished that they wouldn't ask her things, like where she was going and what she planned to do, but they did anyway, and it forced her to realize that her plan wasn't nearly as foolproof as it felt when she was safely in her room. The swirling of thoughts in her head made her dizzy; it made her feel like she wasn't who she really was. She looked back and forth between the two standing in front of her, allowing her brow to furrow and sight to blur in confusion until Mary Margaret offered her the safety of her and Emma's small apartment. The growing platform in her mind shattered with immense clarity.

Ruby remembered. She remembered her entire life, the life she'd never once thought of in the time she spent in Storybrooke. It all shattered the moment she had a connection with Mary Margaret Blanchard - her Snow White. The fairest of them all, the girl who spent her life running from the Evil Queen and still found time to help protect her, to love her immensely when there was nothing left for either of them. A love birthed from desperation and fear, a love that was throbbing in Ruby's heart at this very moment. Mary Margaret broke the curse that bound from her memories, and she realized at last why she loved the feel of running around in the forest even though she always felt so alone, and why she loved volunteering for morning shifts when the only people who really came in were Mary Margaret and David. Ruby realized so many things at once that all she could do was smile and nod, fighting the flood of tears the threatened to spill over.

"Thank you," She choked out, grinning widely and following behind the duo as they lead her back their home. She could still see her Snow in Mary Margaret, in the way she smiled at Emma's jokes and looked behind every few seconds to make sure Ruby was still tagging along behind them. It was so familiar and so strange that Ruby almost wanted to tell Mary Margaret what she knew now, that she knew they loved each other once and that they'd run for away months together, learning everything about each other in the most frightful of ways, but Ruby knew better. Now that the curse on her was broken she could feel the pulse of magic surrounding her now, the pulse of a thin line that would push them over the edge if the wrong person broke it permanently. The pulse that live in Emma Swan, the Savior, the daughter of Prince Charming and her Snow White.

It was strange how well everything fit together even though it was so cruel. How she saved Snow from fate in their prior life, and how Mary Margaret was saving her from fate now. Maybe it was her destiny - to save and to be saved, to love permanently but only be loved temporarily. Even stranger was the fact that Mary Margaret could break Ruby's curse, yet the opposite wasn't true. Then again, true love isn't always reciprocated


End file.
